View source for ConTeXt

{{Short description|General-purpose document processor, derived from TeX}}{{Primary sources|date=July 2025}}{{Infobox software
| name = ConTeXt
| logo = [[Image:ConTeXt Unofficial Logo.svg|The Unofficial ConTeXt logo (contextgarden.net logo)|200px]]
| author = Mainly Hans Hagen and [http://www.pragma-ade.com/ Pragma ADE]
| developer = Mainly Hans Hagen, Taco Hoekwater,<ref>[http://www.tug.org/interviews/hoekwater.html Dave Walden interview with Taco Hoekwater. TeX User Group 2006.]</ref> Aditya Mahajan, Mojca Miklavec, Wolfgang Schuster
| latest_release_version = Mark IV 0.61
| latest_release_date = {{start date|2015|05|24}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://wiki.contextgarden.net/Release_Notes |title=Release notes of ConTeXt at contextgarden |access-date=2009-03-09 |archive-date=2005-12-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051226203050/http://wiki.contextgarden.net/Release_Notes |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://foundry.supelec.fr/frs/?group_id=14 |title=List of releases of ConTeXt |access-date=2009-03-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061124101941/https://foundry.supelec.fr/frs/?group_id=14 |archive-date=2006-11-24 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://foundry.supelec.fr/gf/project/contextrev/frs/ |title=ConTeXt files in Supelec |access-date=2009-10-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101106003346/http://foundry.supelec.fr/gf/project/contextrev/frs/ |archive-date=2010-11-06 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| operating_system = Multiplatform ([[TeX]])
| genre = Document processor, document markup language
| license = Program code under [https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html GPLv2] and Documentation under [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ CC BY-NC-SA 3.0]<ref>[http://wiki.contextgarden.net/Read_Me Read Me] (license of ConTeXt code and documentation)</ref>
| website = [http://wiki.contextgarden.net contextgarden]
}}

'''ConTeXt''', stylised as '''{{Stylized LaTeX|context}}''', is a general-purpose [[document processor]]. Like [[LaTeX]], it is derived from the [[TeX]] [[typesetting]] system. ConTeXt is especially suited for structured documents, automated document production, very fine typography, and multilingual typesetting. It is based in part on TeX, and uses a [[document markup language]] for manuscript preparation.  The typographical and automated capabilities of ConTeXt are extensive, including interfaces for handling [[microtypography]], multiple footnotes and footnote classes, and manipulating [[OpenType]] fonts and features. Moreover, ConTeXt offers extensive support for colors, backgrounds, hyperlinks, presentations, figure-text integration, and conditional compilation. It gives the user extensive control over formatting, while making it easy to create new layouts and styles without learning the low-level TeX [[Macro (computer science)|macro]] language.

While comparisons can be made between ConTeXt and [[LaTeX]], the primary objectives of the two systems are distinct. From the outset, ConTeXt has been a typography and typesetting system designed to give users straightforward and consistent access to advanced typographical control, which is crucial for general-purpose typesetting. LaTeX's original vision, on the other hand, was to insulate the user from typographical decisions—an approach particularly useful for tasks such as submitting articles to a scientific journal. Although LaTeX has evolved from this original vision, ConTeXt's unified design prevents the package clashes which are often experienced with LaTeX.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=context |title=FAQ of the UK TeX Archive |access-date=2009-03-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100518111729/http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=context |archive-date=2010-05-18 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="whatiscontextwiki">[http://wiki.contextgarden.net/What_is_ConTeXt "What is ConTeXt" page at contextgarden]</ref>

ConTeXt provides a multilingual user interface with support for markup in English, Dutch, German, French, and Italian, and support for output in many scripts including western European, eastern European, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. It also allows the user to use different TeX engines, like [[LuaTeX]] (MkIV) and [[LuaMetaTeX]] (LMTX). Older versions (MkII) worked with [[pdfTeX]] or [[XeTeX]].<ref name="whatiscontextwiki"/>

As its native drawing engine, ConTeXt integrates a superset of [[MetaPost]] called [[MetaFun]],<ref name="whatiscontextwiki"/> which allows users to draw page backgrounds and ornaments with MetaPost. MetaFun can also be used directly with MetaPost. ConTeXt also supports the use of other external drawing engines, like [[PGF/TikZ]]<ref>[http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/graphics/pgf/base/doc/generic/pgf/pgfmanual.pdf PGF/TikZ official manual. Version 2.0] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110109090729/http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/graphics/pgf/base/doc/generic/pgf/pgfmanual.pdf |date=January 9, 2011 }}. Section 9.1.3 "Using the ConTeXt Format". p. 88</ref> and PSTricks.<ref name="list-modules">[http://wiki.contextgarden.net/Modules List of ConTeXt modules at contextgarden]</ref>

ConTeXt also provides a macro package for typesetting [[chemical structure]] diagrams with TeX, called [https://www.ctan.org/pkg/ppchtex PPCHTeX],<ref>[http://wiki.contextgarden.net/Chemistry PPCHTeX Module for ConTeXt reference page at contextgarden]</ref> as well as many other modules.<ref name="list-modules"/><ref>[http://modules.contextgarden.net/ List of ConTeXt modules (static page)]</ref><ref>[http://dl.contextgarden.net/modules/ List of ConTeXt modules in web server for downloading]</ref> This package can also be used with plain TeX and LaTeX.

Originally titled ''pragmatex'', ConTeXt was given its name around 1996<ref>[https://tug.org/interviews/hagen.html Hans Hagen Interview, 2006]</ref> by Hans Hagen from [http://www.pragma-ade.com/ PRAGMA Advanced Document Engineering] (Pragma ADE), a Netherlands-based company.

== License ==

ConTeXt is [[free software]]; the program code (i.e. anything not under the <code>{{nowrap|/doc}}</code> subtree) is distributed under the [[GNU GPL]], and the documentation is provided under [[Creative Commons]] Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike license.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wiki.contextgarden.net/Read_Me |title=Read Me | access-date = 2010-07-13 |last=Hagen |first=Hans | date = 2005-11-24}}</ref>

The ConTeXt [http://www.pragma-ade.com/general/manuals/cont-eni.pdf official manual](2001) and ConTeXt [http://www.pragma-ade.com/general/manuals/ms-cb-en.pdf official mini tutorial] (1999) are documents copyrighted by Pragma, but there is a repository for the future manual<ref>[http://foundry.supelec.fr/gf/project/contextman/scmsvn/?action=browse&path=%2Fcontext-reference%2F Repository of new reference manual] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222103946/http://foundry.supelec.fr/gf/project/contextman/scmsvn/?action=browse&path=%2Fcontext-reference%2F |date=February 22, 2012 }}</ref> released under the [[GFDL|GNU Free Documentation License]].<ref>[http://foundry.supelec.fr/gf/project/contextman/scmsvn/?action=browse&path=%2Fcontext-reference%2FCOPYING&view=log License notice of new official manual] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222104006/http://foundry.supelec.fr/gf/project/contextman/scmsvn/?action=browse&path=%2Fcontext-reference%2FCOPYING&view=log |date=February 22, 2012 }}</ref><ref>Part of thread about context manual where Taco Hoekwater [http://www.ntg.nl/pipermail/ntg-context/2009/039070.html recognises that new manual is licensed under the GFDL] and [http://www.ntg.nl/pipermail/ntg-context/2009/039072.html he should put license note on the current directory of manual]</ref> As of April 2009, there is an up-to-date version of the fonts and typography chapters.<ref>Up-to-date chapters of manual: [http://context.aanhet.net/svn/contextman/context-reference/en/co-fonts.pdf Fonts] and [http://context.aanhet.net/svn/contextman/context-reference/en/co-typography.pdf Typography]. April 2009.</ref>

== Versions ==

The current version of ConTeXt is LMTX, introduced in April 2019 as the successor to Mark IV (MkIV).<ref>{{Cite web|title=LMTX - Wiki|url=https://wiki.contextgarden.net/LMTX|access-date=2020-08-30|website=wiki.contextgarden.net}}</ref> Previous versions{{mdash}}Mark II (MkII) and Mark I{{mdash}}are no longer maintained.

According to the developers, the principal difference between LMTX and its predecessors is that the newest version "uses a compilation and scripting engine that is specifically developed with ConTeXt in mind: LuaMetaTeX ... [which] has been optimised heavily for ConTeXt use." Previously, MkIV used [[LuaTeX]] and MkII used [[pdfTeX]].

== History ==
ConTeXt was created by Hans Hagen<ref name="walden-hans">[http://www.tug.org/interviews/interview-files/hans-hagen.html Dave Walden interview Hans Hagen. TeX User Group 2006.]</ref> and Ton Otten of Pragma ADE in the Netherlands,<ref>[http://www.tug.org/pracjourn/2005-1/asknelly/ "Ask Nelly ..." PracTeX Journal. TeX User Group. 2005]. Includes an example of ConTeXt document with source code.</ref> around 1991,<ref name="taco-history">[http://meeting.contextgarden.net/2007/share/taco/history.pdf Taco Hoekwater "A short History of $2^4$ parts". ConTeXt User Meeting 2007 (march 24)]</ref><ref name="CUM-programme-2007">[http://meeting.contextgarden.net/2007/programme.shtml Programme of the ConTeXt User Meeting 2007]</ref> due to the need for educational typesetting material.

Around 1996, Hans Hagen coined the name ConTeXt, meaning "text with tex" (con-tex-t; "con" is a Latin preposition meaning "together with").<ref name="walden-hans"/> Before 1996, ConTeXt was used only within Pragma ADE, but in 1996 it began to be adopted by a wider audience.

In July 2004, the contextgarden.net wiki page was created.<ref name="taco-history"/><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://contextgarden.wordpress.com/2009/07/17/happy-birthday-contextgarden/ |title=contextgarden 5th birthday on 24 July 2009 |access-date=22 July 2009 |archive-date=18 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718092025/http://contextgarden.wordpress.com/2009/07/17/happy-birthday-contextgarden/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

ConTeXt low-level code was originally written in Dutch. Around 2005, the ConTeXt developers began translating this to English, resulting in the version known as MKII, which is now stable and frozen.{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}}

In August 2007, Hans Hagen presented the MKIV version;<ref name="CUM-programme-2007"/><ref>[http://meeting.contextgarden.net/2007/share/hans/mkiv-epen-2007.pdf Hans Hagen The Road to MKIV. ConTeXt User Meeting 2007.]</ref> the first public beta was released later that year.<ref>[http://wiki.contextgarden.net/Mark_IV MKIV at contextgarden]</ref>

During the ConTeXt User Meeting 2008, Mojca Miklavec presented<ref>[http://meeting.contextgarden.net/2008/programme.shtml ConTeXt User Meeting 2008 web page]</ref> [http://minimals.contextgarden.net/ ConTeXt Minimals], a distribution of ConTeXt containing the latest binaries and intended to have a small memory footprint, thus demanding less bandwidth for updates.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://wiki.contextgarden.net/ConTeXt_Minimals |title=ConTeXt Minimals web page |access-date=2009-01-22 |archive-date=2018-11-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116060213/https://wiki.contextgarden.net/ConTeXt_Minimals |url-status=dead }}</ref> In August 2008, this distribution was registered as a project on the Canonical Launchpad website.<ref>[https://launchpad.net/context ConTeXt at Launchpad.net]</ref>

In June 2008, Patrick Gundlach wrote the first post<ref>[http://contextgarden.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/garden-admins-at-the-context-meeting/ First ConTeXt blog post]</ref> in [http://contextgarden.wordpress.com ConTeXt blog].

In July 2009, ConTeXt started a [http://dl.contextgarden.net/distribution/git/ git repository].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://contextgarden.wordpress.com/2009/07/17/new-git-repository/ |title=Post of announce of git repository |access-date=2009-07-22 |archive-date=2010-03-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100324105956/http://contextgarden.wordpress.com/2009/07/17/new-git-repository/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In November 2010, the [http://group.contextgarden.net/ ConTeXt Group] was created.<ref>[http://www.journal-officiel.gouv.fr/association/index.php?ACTION=Rechercher&JTY_WALDEC=W353009428 Official announcement of ConTeXt Group registration]</ref>

In April 2019, [http://www.pragma-ade.com/luametatex-1.htm LMTX] (ConTeXt LuaMetaTeX) was announced.<ref>[https://ntg.nl/pipermail/ntg-context/2019/094488.html Announcement of lmtx]</ref>

==Example of code==
Making ConTeXt documents is simple: make a plain text file, and compile it with the <code>context</code> script.<ref>[http://www.pragma-ade.com/general/manuals/mtexexec.pdf "TeXEXEC explained" manual. Pragma ADE.]</ref> The result of this process is a [[Portable Document Format|PDF]] file (ConTeXt also can generate a [[DVI (file format)|DVI]] file). An example is shown below.

ConTeXt documents come with the file extension <code>.tex</code>, or an extension demarking the version required: <code>.mkii</code>, <code>.mkiv</code>, or <code>.mkxl</code> for regular TeX, <code>.mkvi</code> or <code>.mklx</code> for a dialect that supports named macro parameters in addition to TeX’s numeric ones.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mailman.ntg.nl/pipermail/ntg-context/2020/096906.html|title=[NTG-context] Official file ending?|last=Hagen|first=Hans|date=2020-02-04|website=mailman.ntg.nl|access-date=2020-02-12|archive-date=2021-06-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210628083507/https://mailman.ntg.nl/pipermail/ntg-context/2020/096906.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
{| style="width:100%;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"
|-
|<syntaxhighlight lang="latex">
% This line is a comment because % precedes it.
% It specifies the format of head named 'title'
% Specifically the style of the font: sans serif
% + bold + big font.

\setuphead[title][style={\ss\bfd},
    before={\begingroup},
    after={John Doe, the author\smallskip%
           \currentdate\bigskip\endgroup}]

\starttext

\title{\CONTEXT}

\section{Text}
\CONTEXT\ is a document preparation system for the 
\TEX\ typesetting program. It offers programmable 
desktop publishing features and extensive 
facilities for automating most aspects of 
typesetting and desktop publishing, including 
numbering and cross-referencing (for example to 
equation \in[eqn:famous-emc]), tables and figures, 
page layout, bibliographies, and much more.

It was originally written around 1990 by Hans 
Hagen. It could be an alternative or complement 
to \LATEX.

\section{Maths}
With \CONTEXT\ we could write maths. Equations 
can be automatically numbered.

\placeformula[eqn:famous-emc]
\startformula
    E = mc^2
\stopformula
with
\placeformula[eqn:def-m]
\startformula
    m = \frac{m_0}{\sqrt{1-\frac{v^2}{c^2}}}
\stopformula

\stoptext
</syntaxhighlight>
|class="noresize"| [[File:ConTeXt output EN.svg|center|600px|ConTeXt document]]
|}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Free and open-source software}}
* [[Comparison of TeX editors]]
* [[List of TeX extensions]]
* [[LaTeX]]
* [[TeX]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}







{{TeX navbox}}

{{TeX editors}}
{{Document markup languages}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Context}}
[[Category:Free TeX software]]
[[Category:Page description languages]]